


Electricity

by RainyDayBatsy



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-12
Updated: 2013-05-12
Packaged: 2017-12-11 15:18:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/800176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainyDayBatsy/pseuds/RainyDayBatsy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Storms have always put Ruby on edge. How will Archie help her? (Set before Emma came to town)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Electricity

**Author's Note:**

> Written as part of series of prompts from tumblr involving 5 words beginning with the same letter. The words for this prompt are storm, suspicious, seduce, smile, and secret.

The sky was largely white, but it became quickly obvious that a storm was on the rise. It wasn’t due to blowing winds or high humidity. The people who knew to look knew that the best predictor of a storm was Ruby. While the waitress was always feisty and flirtatious, when a storm was on the horizon a different kind of energy settled around the girl. She possessed a curious energy that was impossible to dispel. She had tried running, dancing, yoga, even staying in bed and sleeping all day, but there was nothing that could rid her of this feeling that beset her. Since nothing worked, she figured she might as well make some money, and thus almost every time a storm blew in Ruby could be found working a double shift.

As such it was on this stormy day that Ruby was working at the diner. She had begun working at 10 that morning and the bottom fell out at 2 that afternoon. The rain pounded on the roof of the diner, the clouds crashed together with booms that shook the chest, it would be dark as midnight and then a crack would light the sky like it was noon. It truly was a beautiful storm, but unfortunately Ruby was stuck with her restless energy and most of the town was staying indoors to avoid being swept out to sea. Soon it was 8, Ruby was the only waitress still in the diner and Granny was thinking of going to the inn to make sure the basement wouldn’t flood.

“Granny, just go. We have plenty of soup left, a lot of desserts, and I am capable of grilling and assembling burgers or sandwiches. Go check on the inn,” Ruby insisted.

“You sure, girl?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Who’s to say we will even get another customer. Go.”

Granny gathered her things and donned all of the rain gear possible to wade through the river that was Main Street. And then it was just Ruby. She slipped her shoes off and crawled into a booth to watch the scene unfolding out the diner’s windows. She would periodically get up and pace, but she always returned to her spot by the window. After five paces and a little over an hour, the door blew open and several sheets of water accompanied a tall man in.

“Hey Archie. What you doing out in this insanity?” Ruby always offered the good doctor an easy smile. Unlike some of the men in the town who just stared or thought that any time she looked their way she was trying to seduce them, Dr. Hopper had always treated her respectively, making him one of her favorite patrons. The fact that he always tipped well, that was just a bonus.

“I got stuck at my office when it started pouring and was hoping to wait it out, but that doesn’t really look like an option at this point. I saw the lights on and hoped you might still be open.” He lingered a bit awkwardly at the doorway.

“Depends on what you want but we still have some things that you can stomach. They are largely limited to soup, sweets, or something that can be put between two pieces of bread.” Ruby moved from her seat by the window and padded behind the counter.

“Well what do you suggest?” Archie asked as he shook out his umbrella and took a seat at the counter.

“Well my ability on the grill should be considered suspicious and dangerous. It also always seems like on nights like this soup is the best way to make your bones feel good.” Although she had been enjoying the show, it was nice to have someone else in the diner. It was a bit easier to keep her manic energy in check with another person in the vicinity. “We have a great broccoli cheese or a chili. We also have chicken and vegetables, but I’ve never liked that one too much.”

Ruby was leaning on the counter across from Archie and he could smell the sweet scent from her shampoo. “I think a bowl of broccoli cheese sounds great.” Archie admitted to himself that when he saw it was only Ruby in the diner, he thought of turning around and trudging home. It was not often he was left alone with the waitress and that was largely by design. The poor doctor had found himself thinking about the beauty more and more often, but he assumed when others were around he could just fade into the background. He hadn’t realized how uncomfortable he would be when her lovely eyes were focused solely on him.

“Coming right up.” Ruby quickly poured a healthy serving of the soup for the doctor and decided to help herself to a bowl as well. Ruby eased into the seat next to the good doctor and slid his soup to him.

They ate in comfortable silence, but soon Ruby couldn’t sit still any longer. It started with just her foot shaking, but eventually she stopped trying to eat and decided to do some cleaning. “Ruby, I don’t mean to overstep my bounds, but are you okay?” Archie looked at the waitress with genuine concern in his eyes. She stopped and leaned against the counter. She found looking him in the eyes was too unnerving. There was such sweetness in his eyes and it wasn’t something she was accustomed to seeing in men’s eyes.

“Yeah. Storms always just make me a bit, I don’t know, itchy. Its like I feel the electricity under my skin. It makes me a bit restless.”

“Do they make you anxious?” Archie had quickly turned into the ever professional therapist.

“No. It’s more like my energy is never ending. I’ve tried hundreds of things, but the as soon as water starts falling within a 100 mile radius, I feel it and nothing I can do helps. I try to get Granny to schedule me when the forecast calls for rain. At least then I can spend my time working, but when it’s storming like this, no one ever comes in.” Ruby offered him a wide smile, “At least not usually.”

“Well, I’m glad I could help distract you and the soup was just what I needed.” Archie clasped Ruby’s hand and could feel the tension pumping through her. As he squeezed her hand, Ruby felt herself beginning to relax. They lingered in this position of hand over hand and watched the rain pelt the windows. Ruby’s breath came easier, her muscles unclenched, and her thoughts slowly. Soon the only thoughts in her mind were the sound of the rain and the feel of Archie’s hand on hers.

“You really are a great therapist.” Ruby looked at Archie with wonder in her eyes. She hadn’t felt so calm during a storm in years.

Archie withdrew his hand and Ruby almost whimpered at the loss. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just grabbed your hand.” His faced colored as he gathered his belongings. It took Ruby some time to register that he was leaving.

Something changed in Archie. While he had been happy sitting next to her and eating soup, her reaction to him moving his hand away had disconcerted him. “Wait, please.” Ruby reached for his hand once more, but the water on the floor caused her to lose her balance. Archie tried to steady the girl, but they ended up in a pile on the cold floor of the diner. She reclaimed his hand in hers. “I don’t understand. I have tried exercising, meditation, sleeping, medication, and a million more things, including some things that Granny would kill me for. There’s something different here, different with you. I can breathe. I feel like I could even sleep. Just don’t leave yet.” Ruby felt like a desperate woman, something she actively avoided especially when it came to guys, but at this point she didn’t care.

“Ruby, I really should be going. Pongo needs to be fed and anyone could walk in and I don’t want anyone to think that I was taking advantage of you.” He was trying to disentangle himself from the leggy waitress.

“Fuck what other people think.” Ruby moved her hand to cup his face. “If you want I won’t ever tell anyone. It will be our secret. Just stay for a little longer.”

Archie sighed against her hand. “Ruby, I’m sure there are plenty of men who would love to have you look at them like this and say you’ll keep anything they want a secret. I can’t think that I’m taking advantage of you.”

“Archie, I’m the one benefitting from this. So please, just shut up.” Ruby’s hand slid around to the back of his head and slowly lifted her head to his. Although initially reticent, he soon returned the kiss, not in a demanding way, but with equal amounts of vigor.

Lightening flashed, thunder roared, and rain raced to meet the surface of the earth, but in a little diner, in a cursed town, all that mattered was Ruby’s lips on Archie’s. It felt as though every bad storm had filled Ruby’s body with unease, but as these two people kissed with the world fuming around them, every bit of worry and anxiety was eased. She knew if it had been any other man in Storybrooke, she would be expected to either get them off there in the diner or follow them back to their place for a wild night. Archie though never forced her to feel like she was trapped in her rebellious teenage years. The storm continued for hours and the only two people in Storybrooke not encased in their warm homes found themselves encased in each other’s arms on the cold floor of a diner, feeling the security of the other and a calm that sharply contrasted the tempest outside.


End file.
